Who knew? We, formerly (admittedly) pain-in-the-butt picky little girls would one day find themselves having a love affair with sardines?! But it’s true, these little guys had us at “skinless & boneless”…
Packed with omega-3′s and rockin’ with very low levels of PCBs (the harmful chemicals found in salmon) and mercury (the harmful metal found in tuna), sardines have made their way onto our lunch plates, and are likely never wandering off. Welcome to our pantry… or shall we say, the sardine jungle?! 🙂
Just like canned tuna, you can keep sardines around for a long time without worrying about them going bad. We used to get the no-sodium added variety packed in water until Trader Joes started carrying skinless, boneless ones in olive oil. We eat them straight out of the can but drain them very well. You can add lemon, fat free feta and eat it on cucumbers or on whole grain bread or on crisp bread. Some people who get them canned in water also prefer to add a teaspoon of olive oil to their sardines. Try adding them to eggs, tomato sauce or salad. The traditional way to eat them is spread over a crispbread. Whatever you do, tell us how you eat them–and whether you have our obsession!
And for those of you who admit you are a bit “skeeved” out by sardines, we actually hear this often—we have a beginner recipe for you to try. We promise that if you like tuna, this will be an easy, yet more delicious transition—and soon you’ll be shocked to hear yourself saying your obsessed with these little guys too!
Beginner Sardine Kalamata & Chickpea Salad
If you are sardine newbie, this is for you! The kalamata olives, lemon (meyer lemons are awesome in this), and mustard or balsamic vinegar are helpful with adding more flavor. The boneless skinless sardines make them much less intimidating too! Think of this as a Mediterranean Style Seafood Dish!
Beginner Sardine Kalamata & Chickpea Salad
Serves 3
Ingredients:
2 tins of sardines, boneless, skinless, in water or in olive oil
1 tablespoon of olive oil, only if your sardines were packed in water
2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice, to taste
Zest from 1 lemon
6 to 8 Kalamata olives, pitted
1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite mustard
1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained
½ cup spinach
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
Directions:
Using a mini food processor, , puree the sardines with the lemons juice, lemon zest, mustard and olives until everything is a nice smooth texture. Then stir in the tomatoes, spinach and chickpeas. Add pepper to taste. Eat by the spoon, on whole grain crispy bread, on a salad, with sliced fruit, or with veggies.
Note: In photo above, I mixed, but did not puree the sardines with the other items. I also chopped the olives. Once you love sardines the way we do, you’ll just mix in the dressing items like you do with tuna :).
Nutrition Facts Per Serving (analyzed with sardines canned in olive oil): 296 Calories, 27 g carbohydrate, 11 g fat, 23 g protein, 8 g fiber, 481 mg sodium
- 2 tins of sardines, boneless, skinless, in water or in olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil, only if your sardines were packed in water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice, to taste
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 6 to 8 Kalamata olives, pitted
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite mustard
- 1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- ½ cup spinach
- Fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Using a mini food processor, , puree the sardines with the lemons juice, lemon zest, mustard and olives until everything is a nice smooth texture. Then stir in the tomatoes, spinach and chickpeas. Eat by the spoon, on whole grain crispy bread, on a salad, with sliced fruit, or with veggies.
- Note: In photo above, I mixed, but did not puree the sardines with the other items. I also chopped the olives. Once you love sardines the way we do, you’ll just mix in the dressing items like you do with tuna .
